A police station (illustration). – Olivier Aballain / 20 Minutes
Alain Ferrand is again in turmoil and with him the town hall of Barcarès, seaside resort of which he is the mayor. The 1st vice-president of the agglomeration of Perpignan was placed in police custody on Tuesday, we learned from the Marseille prosecutor’s office. The newspaper The Independent reveals that the investigation relates to embezzlement of public funds.
Deputy prosecutor Patrice Ollivier-Maurel said that in addition to Alain Ferrand, one of his deputies was also placed in police custody. Under the authority of the JIRS (Inter-regional Specialized Jurisdiction) of Marseille, the investigators of the SRPJ of Montpellier also searched the town hall of Barcarès, according to the same source.
Re-elected from the 1st round
During the municipal elections of 2020, he was reelected from the 1st round to the town hall of Barcarès, 6,000 inhabitants per year but whose population can be multiplied by ten in summer. Alain and his wife Joëlle Ferrand, now separated, have succeeded each other since 1995 at the head of this town located near Perpignan.
Alain Ferrand, restaurateur and owner of the casino, was sentenced in 1999 to three years of ineligibility for abuse of corporate assets. He was also subsequently convicted of illegal interest taking and tax evasion.